The Illinois Central College women’s basketball team has done all it can during the regular season.

The Cougars, ranked third nationally, host Lincoln at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Region XXIV quarterfinals.

A year ago, ICC won the region tournament and finished third at nationals.

“With junior college, we have the advantage of we’re the only one who knows what it’s like to win a region tournament and we want to be hungry to get back there,” first-year ICC coach Karrie Redeker said. “That’s an advantage for us, although we have a target on our backs a little bit.”

The Cougars are 26-3 this season and open with the Lynx, a polar opposite. Lincoln is 2-25.

Illinois Central is not looking past Lincoln to Saturday’s semifinals against either John Wood or weekend host Lake Land.

The tournament concludes with the championship at 2 p.m. Sunday.

“We never tell our kids what the record is,” Redeker said. “I think we want to keep getting better and playing better. Hopefully, no matter who we play, that’s what we do.”

ICC is well-rehearsed for the postseason — even a trip to the national tournament in Overland Park, Kan., which it earns by winning three games over the next five days. The Cougars played a challenging schedule, which featured two games against No. 1 North Iowa Area (they split) and games in a multitude of conditions.

“We’ve talked to our kids and tried to practice every situation,” Redeker said. “We’ve stayed overnight in hotels, we’ve had long bus trips. We feel like we’ve done as much as we can.”

Kevin Capie can be reached at 686-3214 or kcapie@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinCapie.